It is common for facilities that have sensitive or valuable items to keep those items in a secure part of the facility with limited access to the items. Typically, physical barriers are utilized to protect physical items, such as computer equipment, with a security system being employed to monitor access through the physical barriers to the secure physical domain and limit the access thereto. Examples of such systems are secure door and electronic lock systems, personnel location monitoring systems within a facility, and motion detectors.
For sensitive logical computer domains, logical access barriers and security systems are utilized to protect unauthorized access to the logical domain. Examples of such security systems are firewalls, restricted communication paths, and controlled network access.
One problem arises in both the physical and logical secure domains in that access is often necessary to the protected domain to perform maintenance and other work tasks on the items or software/systems within the protected domain. For example, if a secure physical domain holds computer equipment that needs work, a technician will have to physically enter the secure domain to perform the work and accordingly must have the requisite ability to do so per the security system. In the logical secure domain, a programmer or an intelligent software agent may need to have access to protected domain for programming purposes such as software updating or system repair.